Shadows And Sunlight
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. AU. She was just a stranger in the back of a photograph. COMPLETE.


**Don't own anything. **

It was late now and he had already had quite a long day, but Angel remained in his dark room, trying get his brother's prom pictures ready to go as soon as he could before passing out for the night. He knew Connor's girlfriend would be over the moon to get them.

He'd had a few meetings in the morning, then he got his younger brother and they went scouting for some new places do the pictures before he had to go get ready and get his date and everything. After that, he'd had a date of his own which hadn't gone all that well, getting lost trying to take his mother to one of her friend's, then finishing up homework and coming home to cook a quick meal and clean up.

This whole week felt like it hadn't had a break for him. He was looking forward to the rest of the weekend, it meant sleeping in and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Hanging the pictures up, he found himself quite proud of his work, more with each shot. He'd really enjoyed the new locations he and Connor had found and a lot of the poses he'd gotten from them. His favorite so far was one that looked like they were jumping off of a building. Really, it was them jumping a few feet from a hidden ledge but it looked pretty awesome, like they'd run and jumped and were now falling. Some others he enjoyed were the couple in front of some colorful graphitti, it looked pretty amazing against the bright but dark blue of the date's dress and eyes. He was also pretty fond of the one's he'd taken in front one a new fountain in town, he planned to certainly do more work out there soon. He already had a number of ideas floating in his head for what he could do.

Angel pulled out his phone, texting his brother quickly to let him know he was in the process of developing the shots and they'd turned out great. He also asked how the night was going. He knew his brother's little clique wasn't so much for these type of events but they always went. It was more the girls dressing up for awhile, making an appearance, then they'd all head to a hotel and swim and have a good time.

It wasn't all that different from what he used to do when he was younger.

After getting a response from Connor letting him know all was going good, he returned to is photos.

It was a few minutes later when one caught his eye. He did a double take at it, squinting and getting it closer to his face.

There was a girl in the background. Not that it wasn't usual. Some of their shots at the park had various people in the background at different locations they'd hit there. Most were just of the two but sometimes you couldn't help it and sometimes it worked even better. But the girl... something about her struck something in him for some reason.

Looking at the photos taken before and after the one, he noticed her several times over.

She'd sat down on a bench in the background. It looked like she was just there, enjoying the day. The last shot he found of her had her reaching into her bookbag for something.

A hand ran through his dark hair, a pulse going a little stronger than normal through his veins.

He didn't know why this blonde was capturing him like this, but she was.

Angel cursed, then laughed at himself. Of course he'd find himself drawn to someone he would never meet. Shaking his head, he tried to just hang the photos and leave them be, putting her out of his mind.

It took some time, but finally Angel was done with his brother's shots. He yawned, stretched, hearing some bones crackle as he did. He gave another hard glance at each of the photos containing the young blonde, before heading back upstairs and getting himself ready for bed.

His night was filled with countless dreams the unfamiliar female, his mind at play, coming to imagine various ideas and situations, moments and events starring her. And from there, it seemed his day was filled with similar.

He wondered if this what going crazy for some people was like.

Hours turned to days, days to weeks, and weeks into months. And even after such time, he still found himself wondering about the strange girl from time to time. He even went so far to keep copies of the photos he'd taken with her in the background in his night stand, pulling them out from time to time, just to look and study her.

He'd gone back to the park a few times, but had never seen her again. He thought he had once, and maybe he did, but it was only a glimpse and he lost track of her when he started following the swinging blonde locks.

Then again, he would question if he did want to actually see her, speak to her. It might ruin the fantasy he'd built up of her.

Then what would there be?


End file.
